H. P. Lovecraft was one of the most beloved individuals of his era, and many friends, colleagues, and correspondents wrote memoirs of their association with him. This volume, one of the most exhaustive collection of Lovecraft memoirs ever published, gathers together some of the best-known accounts of Lovecraft the man and writer, including W. Paul Cook’s classic In Memoriam: Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1941) and Sonia H. Davis’s The Private Life of H. P. Lovecraft, a moving discussion of her marriage to the Providence writer. Members of the celebrated Kalem Club (Frank Belknap Long, Rheinhart Kleiner, Samuel Loveman, James F. Morton) add their assessments, while such neighbors as Harold W. Munro (Lovecraft’s classmate at Hope Street High School), Clara Hess, and Muriel Eddy offer unique glimpses of Lovecraft’s life in Providence.

As Lovecraft became a titan in the world of pulp fiction, such colleagues as Donald Wandrei, E. Hoffmann Price, and H. Warner Munn recounted their recollections. Late in life, Lovecraft became a mentor for a cadre of young fans and writers who were spearheading the fantasy fandom movement, and many of them—R. H. Barlow, Fritz Leiber, Robert Bloch, Kenneth Sterling, and others—told of their memories of the dreamer from Providence.

Ave atque Vale has been meticulously edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, two of the leading authorities on Lovecraft. They have supplied biographical information on the various authors and annotated each essay thoroughly to explain obscure references and to correct errors. This book will be an invaluable contribution to the study of H. P. Lovecraft.